The Celebrity Archaeology Podcast

PODCAST EPISODE 37 - Ice T

Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February
16, 1958), better known by his stage name Ice-T, is an American
musician, rapper, songwriter, actor, record executive, record
producer, and author. He began his career as an underground rapper
in the 1980s and was signed to Sire Records in 1987, when he
released his debut album Rhyme Pays; the second hip-hop album to
carry an explicit content sticker after Slick Rick’s La Di Da Di.
The following year, he founded the record label Rhyme Syndicate
Records (named after his collective of fellow hip-hop artists
called the "Rhyme Syndicate") and released another album, called
Power. He co-founded the heavy metal
band Body Count, which he introduced on his 1991 rap album O.G.:
Original Gangster, on the track titled "Body Count." The band
released their self-titled debut album in 1992. Ice-T encountered
controversy over his track "Cop Killer," which glamorized killing
police officers. Ice-T asked to be released from his contract with
Warner Bros. Records, and his next solo album, Home Invasion, was
released later in February 1993 through Priority Records. Body
Count's next album was released in 1994, and Ice-T released two
more albums in the late-1990s. Since 2000, he has portrayed NYPD
Detective/Sergeant Odafin Tutuola on the NBC police drama Law &
Order: Special Victims Unit. Early life Tracy Lauren Marrow, son of
Solomon and Alice Marrow, was born in Newark, New Jersey. Solomon
was African-American, and Alice was Creole. For decades, Solomon
worked as a conveyor belt mechanic at the Rapistan Conveyor
Company. When Marrow was a child, his family moved to upscale
Summit, New Jersey. The first time race played a major part in
Marrow's life was at the age of seven, when he became aware of the
racism leveled by his white friends towards black children, and
that he escaped similar treatment because they thought that Marrow
was white due to his lighter skin. Relaying this incident to
his mother, she told him, "Honey, people are stupid"; her advice
and this incident taught Marrow to control the way the negativity
of others affected him. His mother died of a heart attack when he
was in third grade. Solomon raised Marrow as a single father for
four years, with help from a housekeeper.[5] Marrow's
first experience with illicit activity occurred after a bicycle
that his father "bought" him for Christmas was stolen. After Marrow
told his father, Solomon shrugged, "Well, then, you ain't got no
bike.” Marrow stole parts from bicycles and assembled "three or
four weird-looking, brightly-painted bikes" from the parts; his
father either did not notice or never acknowledged this. When
Marrow was twelve years old, Solomon died of a heart attack. For
many years, AllMusic.com has stated that his parents "died in an
auto accident”, but Ice-T has stated that it was actually he who
had been in a car accident, and that it was decades later.
Following his father's death, the orphaned Marrow lived with a
nearby aunt briefly, then was sent to live with his other aunt and
her husband in View Park-Windsor Hills, an upper middle-class Black
neighborhood in South Los Angeles. While his cousin Earl was
preparing to leave for college, Marrow shared a bedroom with him.
Earl was a fan of rock music and listened only to the local rock
radio stations; sharing a room with him sparked Marrow's interest
in heavy metal music. High school, early criminal activity,
military service Marrow moved to the Crenshaw District of
Los Angeles when he was in the eighth grade. He attended Palms
Junior High, which was predominantly made up of white students, and
included black students who travelled by bus from South Central to
attend. He then attended Crenshaw High School, which was almost
entirely made up of black students. Marrow stood out from most of
his friends because he did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, or use
drugs. During Marrow's time in high school, gangs became more
prevalent in the Los Angeles school system. Students who belonged
to the Bloods and Crips gangs attended Crenshaw, and fought in the
school's hallways. Marrow, while never an actual gang member, was
affiliated with the Crips. Marrow began reading the novels of
Iceberg Slim, which he memorized and recited to his friends, who
enjoyed hearing the excerpts and told him, "Yo, kick some more of
that by Ice, T," giving Marrow his famous nickname. Marrow and
other Crips wrote and performed "Crip Rhymes”. His music career
started with the band of the singing group The Precious Few of
Crenshaw High School. Marrow and his group opened the show, dancing
to a live band. The singers were Thomas Barnes, Ronald Robinson and
Lapekas Mayfield. In 1975, at the age of seventeen, Marrow began
receiving Social Security benefits resulting from the death of his
father and used the money to rent an apartment for $90 a month. He
sold cannabis and stole car stereos to earn extra cash, but he was
not making enough to support his pregnant girlfriend. Once his
daughter was born, he joined the United States Army. Marrow served
a four-year tour in the 25th Infantry Division and was associated
with a group of soldiers charged with the theft of a rug. While
awaiting trial, he received a $2,500 bonus check and went absent
without leave, returning a month later, after the rug had been
returned. Marrow received a non-judicial punishment as a
consequence of his dereliction of duty. During his spell in the
Army, Marrow became interested in hip hop music. He heard The Sugar
Hill Gang's newly released single "Rapper's Delight," which
inspired him to perform his own raps over the instrumentals of this
and other early hip-hop records. The music, however, did not fit
his lyrics or form of delivery. When he was stationed in Hawaii
(where prostitution was not a heavily prosecuted crime) as a squad
leader at Schofield Barracks, Marrow met a pimp named Mac. Mac
admired that Marrow could quote Iceberg Slim and he taught Marrow
how to be a pimp himself. Marrow was also able to purchase stereo
equipment cheaply in Hawaii, including two Technics turntables, a
mixer, and large speakers. Once equipped, he then began to learn
turntablism and rapping. Towards the end of his tenure in the Army,
Marrow learned from his commanding officer that he could receive an
honorable discharge because he was a single father, so he left four
months ahead of schedule. During an episode of The Adam Carolla
Podcast that aired on June 6, 2012, Marrow claimed that after being
discharged from the Army, he began a career as a bank robber.
Marrow claimed he and some associates began conducting take-over
bank robberies "like [in the film] Heat." Marrow then elaborated,
explaining, "Only punks go for the drawer, we gotta go for the
safe." Although Marrow may have been lying about his bank robbing
exploits, he also stated he was glad the United States justice
system has statutes of limitations, which had likely expired when
Marrow admitted to his involvement in multiple Class 1 Felonies in
the early-to-mid 1980s. Career Music Early career (1980–1981) After
leaving the Army, Marrow wanted to stay away from gang life and
violence and instead make a name for himself as a disc
jockey.[13] As a tribute to Iceberg Slim, Marrow adopted
the stage name Ice-T. While performing as a DJ at parties, he
received more attention for his rapping, which led Ice-T to pursue
a career as a rapper. After breaking up with his girlfriend Caitlin
Boyd, he returned to a life of crime and robbed jewelry stores with
his high school friends. Ice-T's raps later described how he and
his friends pretended to be customers to gain access before
smashing the display glass with baby sledgehammers. Ice-T's friends
Al P. and Sean E. Sean went to prison. Al P. was caught in 1982 and
sent to prison for robbing a high-end jewelry store in Laguna
Niguel for $2.5 million in jewelry. Sean was arrested for
possession of not only cannabis, which Sean sold, but also material
stolen by Ice-T. Sean took the blame and served two years in
prison. Ice-T stated that he owed a debt of gratitude to Sean
because his prison time allowed him to pursue a career as a
rapper. Concurrently, he wound up in a car accident and was
hospitalized as a John Doe because he did not carry any form of
identification due to his criminal activities. After being
discharged from the hospital, he decided to abandon the criminal
lifestyle and pursue a professional career rapping. Two weeks after
being released from the hospital, he won an open mic competition
judged by Kurtis Blow. Professional career (1982–present) In 1982,
Ice-T met producer Willie Strong from Saturn Records. In 1983,
Strong recorded Ice-T's first single, "Cold Wind Madness", also
known as "The Coldest Rap", an electro hip-hop record that became
an underground success, becoming popular even though radio stations
did not play it due to the song's hardcore lyrics. That same
year, Ice-T released "Body Rock," another electro hip-hop single
that found popularity in clubs. Ice-T then was a featured rapper on
"Reckless", a single by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor that appeared
on the soundtrack for the 1984 movie Breakin'. He next recorded the
songs "Ya Don't Quit" and "Dog'n the Wax (Ya Don't Quit-Part II)"
with Unknown DJ, who provided a Run–D.M.C.-like sound for the
songs. Ice-T received further inspiration as an artist from
Schoolly D's gangsta rap single "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?", which
he heard in a club. Ice-T enjoyed the single's sound and delivery,
as well as its vague references to gang life, although the real
life gang, Park Side Killers, was not named in the song. Ice-T
decided to adopt Schoolly D's style, and wrote the lyrics to his
first gangsta rap song, "6 in the Mornin'", in his Hollywood
apartment, and created a minimal beat with a Roland TR-808. He
compared the sound of the song, which was recorded as a B-Side on
the single "Dog'n The Wax", to that of the Beastie Boys. The single
was released in 1986, and he learned that "6 in the Mornin'" was
more popular in clubs than its A-side, leading Ice-T to rap about
Los Angeles gang life, which he described more explicitly than any
previous rapper. He intentionally did not represent any particular
gang, and wore a mixture of red and blue clothing and shoes to
avoid antagonizing gang-affiliated listeners, who debated his true
affiliation. Ice-T finally landed a deal with a major label Sire
Records. When label founder and president Seymour Stein heard his
demo, he said, "He sounds like Bob Dylan."[19] Shortly
after, he released his debut album Rhyme Pays in 1987 supported by
DJ Evil E, DJ Aladdin and producer Afrika Islam, who helped create
the mainly party-oriented sound. The record wound up being
certified gold by the RIAA. That same year, he recorded the title
theme song for Dennis Hopper's Colors, a film about inner-city gang
life in Los Angeles. His next album Power was released in 1988,
under his own label Rhyme Syndicate, and it was a more assured and
impressive record, earning him strong reviews and his second gold
record. Released in 1989, The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just
Watch What You Say established his popularity by matching excellent
abrasive music with narrative and commentative lyrics. In the same
year, he appeared on Hugh Harris's single Alice. In 1991, he
released his album O.G. Original Gangster, which is regarded as one
of the albums that defined gangsta rap. On OG, he introduced
his heavy metal band Body Count in a track of the same name. Ice-T
toured with Body Count on the first annual Lollapalooza concert
tour in 1991, gaining him appeal among middle-class teenagers and
fans of alternative music genres. The album Body Count was released
in March 1992.[1] For his appearance on the heavily
collaborative track "Back on the Block", a composition by jazz
musician Quincy Jones that "attempt[ed] to bring together black
musical styles from jazz to soul to funk to rap", Ice-T won a
Grammy Award for the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, an
award shared by others who worked on the track including Jones and
fellow jazz musician Ray Charles. Controversy later surrounded Body
Count over its song "Cop Killer". The rock song was intended to
speak from the viewpoint of a criminal getting revenge on racist,
brutal cops. Ice-T's rock song infuriated government officials, the
National Rifle Association and various police advocacy
groups.[1][22] Consequently, Time Warner Music refused
to release Ice-T's upcoming album Home Invasion because of the
controversy surrounding "Cop Killer". Ice-T suggested that the
furor over the song was an overreaction, telling journalist Chuck
Philips "...they've done movies about nurse killers and teacher
killers and student killers. Arnold Schwarzenegger blew away dozens
of cops as the Terminator. But I don't hear anybody complaining
about that." In the same interview, Ice-T suggested to Philips that
the misunderstanding of Cop Killer, the misclassification of it as
a rap song (not a rock song), and the attempts to censor it had
racial overtones: "The Supreme Court says it's OK for a white man
to burn a cross in public. But nobody wants a black man to write a
record about a cop killer." [22] When Ice split amicably
with Sire/Warner Bros. Records after a dispute over the artwork of
the album Home Invasion, he reactivated Rhyme Syndicate and formed
a deal with Priority Records for distribution. Priority released
Home Invasion in the spring of 1993.[23] The album
peaked at #9 on Billboard magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and
at #14 on the Billboard 200,[24] spawning several
singles including "Gotta Lotta Love", "I Ain't New To This" and "99
Problems" – which would later inspire Jay-Z to record a version
with new lyrics in 2003. Ice-T had also collaborated with certain
other heavy metal bands during this time period. For the film
Judgment Night, he did a duet with Slayer on the track
"Disorder".[25] In 1995, Ice-T made a guest performance
on Forbidden by Black Sabbath. Another album of his, VI –
Return of the Real, was released in 1996, followed by The Seventh
Deadly Sin in 1999. His first rap album since 1999, Gangsta Rap,
was released on October 31, 2006. The album's cover, which "shows
[Ice-T] lying on his back in bed with his ravishing wife's ample
posterior in full view and one of her legs coyly draped over his
private parts," was considered to be too suggestive for most
retailers, many of which were reluctant to stock the
album.[27] Some reviews of the album were
unenthusiastic, as many had hoped for a return to the political
raps of Ice-T's most successful albums. Ice-T appears in the film
Gift. One of the last scenes includes Ice-T and Body Count playing
with Jane's Addiction in a version of the Sly and the Family Stone
song "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey.” Besides fronting his own band
and rap projects, Ice-T has also collaborated with other hard rock
and metal bands, such as Icepick, Motörhead, Slayer, Pro-Pain, and
Six Feet Under. He has also covered songs by hardcore punk bands
such as The Exploited, Jello Biafra, and Black Flag. Ice-T made an
appearance at Insane Clown Posse's Gathering of the Juggalos (2008
edition).[28] Ice-T was also a judge for the 7th annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent
artists.[29] His 2012 film Something from Nothing: The
Art of Rap features a who's who of underground and mainstream
rappers. In November 2011, Ice-T announced via Twitter that he was
in the process of collecting beats for his next LP which was
expected sometime during 2012, but as of October 2014, the album
has not been released. A new Body Count album, Bloodlust, was
released in 2017. After the release of the album, responding
to an interview question asking if he's "done with rap", he
answered "I don't know" and noted that he's "really leaning more
toward EDM right now". Acting Television and film Ice-T's first
film appearances were in the motion pictures, Breakin' (1984), and
its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1985). These films were
released before Ice-T released his first LP, although he appears on
the soundtrack to Breakin'. He has since stated he considers the
films and his own performance in them to be “wack". In 1991, he
embarked on a serious acting career, portraying police detective
Scotty Appleton in Mario Van Peebles' action thriller New Jack
City, gang leader Odessa (alongside Denzel Washington and John
Lithgow) in Ricochet (1991), gang leader King James in Trespass
(1992), followed by a notable lead role performance in Surviving
the Game (1994), in addition to many supporting roles, such as
J-Bone in Johnny Mnemonic (1995), and the marsupial mutant T-Saint
in Tank Girl (1995). He was also interviewed in the Brent Owens
documentary Pimps Up, Ho's Down,[34] in which he claims
to have had an extensive pimping background before getting into
rap. He is quoted as saying "once you max something out, it ain't
no fun no more. I couldn't really get no farther." He goes on to
explain his pimping experience gave him the ability to get into new
businesses. "I can't act, I really can't act, I ain't no rapper,
it's all game. I'm just working these niggas." Later he raps at the
Players Ball. In 1993, Ice-T along with other rappers and the three
Yo! MTV Raps hosts Ed Lover, Doctor Dré and Fab 5 Freddy starred in
the comedy Who's the Man?, directed by Ted Demme. In the movie, he
is a drug dealer who gets really frustrated when someone calls him
by his real name, "Chauncey," rather than his street name,
"Nighttrain." In 1995, Ice-T had a recurring role as vengeful drug
dealer Danny Cort on the television series New York Undercover,
co-created by Dick Wolf. His work on the series earned him the 1996
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Series. In 1997, he co-created the short-lived series Players,
produced by Wolf. This was followed by a role as pimp Seymour
"Kingston" Stockton in Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998).
These collaborations led Wolf to add Ice-T to the cast of Law &
Order: Special Victims Unit. Since 2000 he has portrayed Odafin
"Fin" Tutuola, a former undercover narcotics officer transferred to
the Special Victims Unit. In 2002, the NAACP awarded Ice-T with a
second Image Award, again for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a
Drama Series, for his work on Law & Order: SVU. Around
1995, Ice-T co-presented a UK-produced magazine television
series on black culture, Baadasss TV. In 1997, Ice-T had a
pay-per-view special titled Ice-T's Extreme Babes which appeared on
Action PPV, formerly owned by BET networks. In 1999, Ice-T starred
in the HBO movie Stealth Fighter as a United States Naval Aviator
who fakes his own death, steals a F-117 stealth fighter, and
threatens to destroy United States military bases. He also acted in
the movie Sonic Impact, released the same year. Ice-T made an
appearance on the comedy television series Chappelle's Show as
himself presenting the award for "Player Hater of the Year" at the
"Player-Haters Ball", a parody of his own appearance at the Players
Ball. He was dubbed the "Original Player Hater.” Beyond Tough, a
2002 documentary series, aired on Discovery Channel about the
world's most dangerous and intense professions, such as alligator
wrestlers and Indy 500 pit crews, was hosted by Ice-T. In 2007,
Ice-T appeared as a celebrity guest star on the MTV sketch comedy
show Short Circuitz. Also in late 2007, he appeared in the
short-music film Hands of Hatred, which can be found online. Ice-T
was interviewed for the Cannibal Corpse retrospective documentary
Centuries of Torment, as well as appearing in Chris Rock's 2009
documentary Good Hair, in which he reminisced about going to school
in hair curlers. A 2016 advertisement for GEICO features Ice-T
behind a lemonade stand run by children. When people ask if it's
Ice-T, the actor yells back, "No, it's lemonade!” Voice acting
Ice-T voiced Madd Dogg in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas, as well as Agent Cain in Sanity: Aiken's Artifact. He also
appears as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY and UFC: Tapout
fighting video games. He also voiced the character Aaron Griffin in
the video game Gears of War 3. He was the voice of Jackie A in
Tommy and the Cool Mule. He voiced over the "LawBreakers"
announcement trailer. Other ventures Podcasting On December 27,
2013, Ice-T announced that he was entering podcasting in a deal
with the Paragon Collective. Ice-T co-hosts the Ice-T: Final Level
podcast[45] with his longtime friend, Mick Benzo (known
as Zulu Beatz on Sirius XM). They discuss relevant issues, movies,
video games, and do a behind the scenes of Law Order: SVU segment
with featured guests from the entertainment world. The show will
release new episodes bi-weekly. Guests have included Jim
Norton.[46] Ice-T released his first episode on January
7 to many accolades. Reality television On October 20, 2006,
Ice-T's Rap School aired and was a reality television show on VH1.
It was a spin-off of the British reality show Gene Simmons' Rock
School, which also aired on VH1. In Rap School, rapper/actor Ice-T
teaches eight teens from York Preparatory School in New York called
the "York Prep Crew" ("Y.P. Crew" for short). Each week, Ice-T
gives them assignments and they compete for an imitation gold chain
with a microphone on it. On the season finale on November 17, 2006,
the group performed as an opening act for Public Enemy. On June 12,
2011, E! reality show Ice Loves Coco debuted. The show is mostly
about his relationship with his wife of ten years, Nicole "Coco"
Austin. Personal life In 1976, Marrow's girlfriend Adrienne gave
birth to their daughter LeTesha (born March 20, 1976) and they
attended high school while raising her.[12] While
filming Breakin' in 1984, he met his second girlfriend Darlene
Ortiz, who had been at the club in which the film was being shot.
They began a relationship and Ortiz was featured on the covers of
Rhyme Pays and Power.[18] Ice-T and Ortiz had son Ice
Tracy Marrow in 1992.[18] Ice-T married swimsuit model
Nicole "Coco Marie" Austin in January 2002. In
celebration of their impending 9th wedding anniversary, the couple
renewed their wedding vows on June 4, 2011. As of 2006 they
owned a penthouse apartment in North Bergen, New Jersey. In
2012 they were building a five-bedroom house in Edgewater, New
Jersey, that was expected to be completed by the end of the
year. On November 28, 2015, the couple announced their child
Chanel Nicole Marrow had been born, without specifying the exact
date. Personal disputes LL Cool J Ice-T had a feud with LL Cool J
in the late 1980s, and early 1990s. Apparently, this was instigated
by LL's claim to be "the baddest rapper in the history of rap
itself". Ice-T recorded disses against LL on his 1988 album Power.
On the album was the track, "I'm Your Pusher", in which a rap music
addict declines to buy an LL Cool J record. The album also contains
the posse rap track, "The Syndicate", which took aim at LL's
lyrical ability, claiming that rapping about oneself so frequently
was a "first grade topic".[59] The song also mocked the
song's hook "I'm Bad", which identified it as an LL diss
specifically. In the book Check the Technique: Liner Notes for
Hip-Hop Junkies, Ice-T said that the song "Girls L.G.B.N.A.F." was
also intended as a diss to LL Cool J, by making a crude song to
contrast with the love songs that LL was making at the
time.[60] On LL's response, To da Break of Dawn in 1990,
he dissed Kool Moe Dee (whose feud with LL was far more publicized)
as well as MC Hammer. He then devoted the third verse of the song
to dissing Ice-T, mocking his rap ability ("take your rhymes around
the corner to rap rehab"), his background ("before you rapped, you
was a downtown car thief"), and his style ("a brother with a perm
deserves to get burned"). He also suggested that the success of
Power was due to the appearance of Ice-T's girlfriend Darlene on
the album cover. Ice-T appeared to have ignored the insults and he
had also defended LL Cool J after his arrest in the song "Freedom
of Speech”. In August 2012, Ice-T said that the rivalry was "never
serious" and that he needed a nemesis to create "an exciting
dispute”. Links: The Book: https://amzn.to/2HrXUUS The Podcast
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